Subscribe in a reader
Saturday, November 17, 2007
The secret - to Santa Cruz Carnaval 2008 - has been revealed and other Tenerife Oddities
Oddities (and what isn't in Tenerife?) we borrowed from Typically Spanish, who came up with our favorite headline of the week, What a silly foca...
Foca, they rightly point out, is the Spanish word for seal and the story is about the Arctic one with faulty radar that is back in Spain again, after already being found off course in the Canary Islands back in April.
The experts don't seem to know why, but we reckon it could be something to do with the climate or the culture down here that sends seals a bit "funny". It's been known to have a similar effect on people. :)
Speaking of silly ... Rafael Amargo, who was responsible for putting the bitterness into last year's Carnaval Gala in Santa Cruz, was on Antena 3 TV's celeb gossip program, ¿Dónde Estás Corazón?, sort of apologizing on Friday night. The matter needs to be forgotten and put to bed, but, sadly, he didn't convince me of his sincerity and I doubt I'm unique.
(Understand that we only accidentally caught this program while rewinding an old VHS tape and, we wouldn't have stayed that long, but presenter Jaime Cantizano is a reasonable bit of, er eye candy!)
Ah, the faux pas (we mean total f*** up) over the gala was just "his way", according to Amargo and, the show revealed that he had been paid in full in the end, despite earlier reports that a complaint and claim for injuries and calumnies was filed against him in the courts in Madrid.
No, they didn't go into the whys and wherefores. It might constitute real news and we couldn't go dealing with any of that, now could we? :)
The secret has been revealed, translating directly from the headline at La Opinión, El secreto ha sido descubierto, with the story that also this week, the town hall in Santa Cruz announced - or, more precisely, the mayor of Santa Cruz' first lieutenant, Ángel Llanos (the man who brought us varying conflicting information about Elton John), did - a calendar of acts for Carnaval 2008 in Santa Cruz that hope to erase the bitter memory. You can tell that we're not sure, right?
These include Puerto Rican Latin pop singer Chayanne, Colombian singer Carlos Vives, Cuban hip-hop band Orishas and Xiomara Laugart, the New York based Cuban singer who has not only been called "the new Celia Cruz", but is playing the late Queen of Salsa on Broadway.
Billo's Caracas Boys, 21 Canarian orchestras, an English tribute act that recreates the "mythical" North American group, Village People and the current Canarian TV and fiesta circuit "turn", Pepe Benavente, are also in the lineup, which proves that you can't please everyone.
Not all comments I've read agree, but Sr. Llanos reckons this lot makes for "one of the best Latin music shows in the capital in the last 20 years."
For Carnaval 2008, the organizers are also looking to revitalize the Sábado de Piñata (the Saturday after Shrove Tuesday, which next year will fall on Saturday, February 9th), when there will be four live concerts happening simultaneously, they say, in the Plaza de España, Plaza de Europa, Plaza Weyler and the Calle La Noria, according to the reports.
These concerts are to have more than a million watts of illumination (at 12:00 midday?) and 120,000 watts of sound, "as well as the sort of big screens that are used at the concerts of U2, Robbie Williams and the Rolling Stones." No, those three acts are not coming and, don't ask us why so much name dropping was needed to make the point either!
What is really making me sarcastic and cynical is that, when asked how much the artists are costing, Llanos, apparently, replied "the same as last year," although he claims he couldn't remember how much that was.
For a start there are artists of different calibre; nothing is ever the same price as last year (try going into a supermarket) and to top it, Llanos, apart from being the mayor's right-hand man, is also the Councillor for Hacienda (TAX). Please ... in a former life, I was an accountant and believe me, people who work in that field, which includes tax, don't tend to forget what things cost. Not even when we want to! :)
Meanwhile, residents are beginning to grumble about the noise already and, what the Carnaval does not yet have is someone to build the scenery. The 500,000 euros on offer for that is not enough, apparently, for the "magical" design the organizers want. The rights to the TV coverage are not yet sold either and the horrible thought crosses one's mind that after last year's "spectacle", maybe nobody wants to buy them?
And, the Centro Canario (CCN) party is calling for Ángel Llanos to resign after (allegedly) telling porkie pies about the Elton John situation.
They say he never actually contracted the star and, well, it does rather look that way. Other reports reveal that it is private companies that have contracted John for the show on the south of the island in January (dead simple that one, simply by offering double the fee, apparently) and, that this means the loss of a golden opportunity for the capital. It does seem logical to suggest that the authorities in Santa Cruz would be unlikely to sign the artist in the future after such a muck up really.
There are serious doubts too over whether the Plaza de España will be ready by January, when Carnaval starts and, well, this is Tenerife.
Anything can happen in the next couple of months. We'll bring what news we can for those planning to attend the Carnaval in Santa Cruz, but the fact is, you might just have to turn up and expect a surprise! :)
Chayanne, Carlos Vives, Orishas y Xiomara, tratarán de borrar el mal recuerdo de Rafael Amargo | El Carnaval 2008 revitalizará un "gran sábado de piñata" para 100.000 personas de todas las edades
Labels: Carnaval 2008, Orishas in Tenerife
